Plowing in a winter wonderland

Guelph Mercury

I’ve never lived in a city or town where my sidewalks were plowed by the municipality. So for me, when looking for ways to reduce city spending, scrapping the residential sidewalk plowing program is a no-brainer.

I actually find it harder to maintain the sidewalk in front of my house after the plows have been by than if they had just let me clear it myself, as they do the driveway.

The plow portion of the sidewalk plow doesn’t get right down to the concrete, leaving a skimming of snow it can’t help but drive over, which packs the snow so it’s slippery and harder to clear in subsequent storms. The plows often knock down snow banks as they pass by, and they always leave those deep mounds of snow, called windrows, where the sidewalk crosses the driveway.

One winter the plow tore up a strip of grass from front lawns about six inches wide as it pushed the snow up and down my street and on many others in my subdivision, making it harder, not easier, to maintain the rest of the winter. And this was the first plow of the season.

I do agree there are parts of the city where the sidewalks should be plowed. City property, major routes to schools, shops, bus stops, hospitals and seniors’ residences are already flagged as priority areas and that should continue. But really, if you’re already shovelling your driveway, it’s not that much more work to clear the sidewalk, too.

Now, don’t get your knickers in a knot. Despite my opinion, city council last week decided to keep the $500,000 sidewalk plowing program in the 2013 budget.

The anticipated extra cost of enforcing a new residential snow removal bylaw was calculated at $400,000, almost neutralizing the savings. And a strong argument was made that a walkable city should clear snow for pedestrians.

I’m a year-round walker and I think most people already shovel their sidewalks, even in this city that does it for you, so I have a hard time believing compliance would be so costly. I hate to suggest a study, but if there was some scientific way to know how many people already shovel their sidewalks, that would settle it one way or another.

I spoke with Sam Mattina, the city’s manager of roads and rights of way, after the decision came down, to clarify the obligations of residents when it comes to clearing snow from sidewalks.

With the passing of the budget, nothing has changed, he said. The city will continue with the program, which sends the plows out in priority areas when there’s 4 centimetres of snow and in less priority areas after 8 centimetres. The city also treats sidewalks with a salt/sand mixture to help with icy walking conditions.

Mattina said it takes about 20 hours to do the entire city. The clock starts ticking when the snow stops, however, so if it snows off and on for two or three days, it may take a while before your sidewalk is cleared.

I still believed homeowners had some obligation to shovel their sidewalks. There are many times when the snowfall is not deep enough to trigger the plows but still deep enough to shovel.

That is not the case, Mattina said.

“Shovelling your own sidewalk makes it safer and easier for pedestrians and we do ask residents to help out in that way,” he said. “In other municipalities where they don’t provide the service, they do expect homeowners to do it. And there’s compliance.”

To help you to help out, the city places boxes of their sand and salt mixture along major routes and intersections in the city that’s free for the taking. You can’t fill the back of your pickup truck, but you can fill a bucket and use the mix to treat your sidewalk.

If there’s a slippery hill, a bad patch by a bus stop or some other treacherous area you know of, feel free to throw the mixture there, too, Mattina said. That’s what it’s for.

The city also encourages people to report icy spots that seem to be missed by the city’s sidewalk program.

“These may change from year to year. We put them on our list when we know about them,” he said.